Books

Drowning City

Posted 9:43pm Sunday 3rd August 2014 by Bridget Vosburgh

Other reviews i’ve read of Ben Atkins’ first novel Drowning City tended to sound something like: “ZOMG this teenager wrote a book when he was like 17 and then it was published when he was 19 ZOMG and it sounds just like a real person wrote it, this is incredible!” The problem with this is that his Read more...

Lolita

Posted 10:15pm Sunday 27th July 2014 by Andrea Reed

Lolita is Nabokov’s best-known novel. Written about 60 years ago, the novel now is being promoted in the Central Library’s showcases as a crucial modernist text. But what characterises modernist fiction? It appears, on the whole, that modernist authors explore styles and themes that engage in moral Read more...

The Name of the Wind

Posted 5:12pm Sunday 20th July 2014 by Chelsea Boyle

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is the first novel of a trilogy known as “The Kingkiller Chronicle.” This debut fantasy novel has quickly garnered critical praise for its style and creativity. A unique prologue foreshadows an original take on the hero’s journey. It features beautiful, Read more...

How Should a Person Be?

Posted 6:52pm Sunday 13th July 2014 by Mandy Te

In 2012, critics praised Sheila Heti’s second novel, How Should a Person Be? The New York Times named it their most notable book of 2012 and magazines such as The New Republic (who once published the works of Virginia Woolf) and the New York Observer placed this novel on their “Best Books of 2012” Read more...

This is not the end of the book

Posted 1:08pm Sunday 6th July 2014 by Feby Idrus

Rumours of the death of the book have been grossly exaggerated. In this book-length discussion, Umberto Eco and Jean-Claude Carrière celebrate the book by delving into its history and speculating on its inevitable future, since, as Eco says early on: “The book is like the spoon […] Once invented, it Read more...

Interview: Majella Cullinane, 2014 Burns Fellow

Posted 2:07pm Sunday 25th May 2014 by Anonymous Bird

What was it like receiving the Burns Fellowship/how did you actually go about getting it? Well, the Burns Fellowship comes around every year. I was pretty unsure whether I was going to apply for it or not, ‘cause I have been in New Zealand for just over five years, and it’s New Zealand’s oldest Read more...

Saga

Posted 2:07pm Sunday 25th May 2014 by Anonymous Bird

Saga is the new comic book series from Brian Vaughan, who wrote Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, and Runaways. He was part of the scriptwriting team for Lost, seasons three through five, and he’s currently show-runner for Under the Dome, a TV series based around the 2009 Steven King novel. I’ve not read Read more...

Cross Fingers

Posted 4:32pm Sunday 18th May 2014 by Bridget Vosburgh

Cross Fingers is a thriller by Paddy Richardson. The tagline says that Cross Fingers is, in fact, psychological crime fiction, but I don’t feel that the pacing gives you time to stop and think. So thriller it is. One Rebecca Thorne, a not too hard-assed, plucky reporter lady who gets sexually and Read more...

Interview: Wendy Syfret - Editorial Coordinator at Vice

Posted 3:11pm Sunday 11th May 2014 by Loulou Callister-Baker

Can you describe what your current role as Editorial Assistant at VICE involves, in both its local context and globally? I was actually bumped up to Editorial Coordinator last year so my job involves a few facets. I manage the website, monitor traffic, commission and edit pieces, write them Read more...

American Skin

Posted 3:11pm Sunday 11th May 2014 by Mandy Te

In 1998, Don De Grazia released his critically acclaimed debut novel American Skin. It is described as an American classic and a powerful coming of age novel. The thesis-turned- popular-book process was like a recipe. All De Grazia had was a dash of luck, a cup of talent and 75 dollars to make this Read more...